Show HN: Mox - Modern full-featured low-maintenance self-hosted mail server (github.com)

Article summary

Mox is a modern, full-featured, and open-source mail server designed for low-maintenance self-hosted email. It aims to make running a mail server easy and nearly effortless by integrating various components, including SMTP, IMAP, and webmail, into a single application. Mox also includes features such as SPF, DKIM, and DMARC for message authentication and reputation tracking. The project is available under the MIT license and has a roadmap for future development.

Main themes

• self-hosted email
• mail server setup
• email deliverability
• reputation management
• SPF and DKIM
• Docker and containerization
• email reliability and maintenance
• technical expertise and effort required

What commenters say

• Self-hosting email can be reliable and efficient with the right setup and maintenance, but it may require technical expertise and effort to avoid deliverability issues.
• Using a single, integrated mail server solution like Mox can simplify the process of setting up and managing email, compared to combining multiple dedicated software stacks.
• Email reputation is a complex topic, and avoiding consumer IP ranges, setting up SPF and DKIM, and not sending spam can help improve deliverability, but issues can still arise.
• Some websites may not accept self-hosted email addresses for registration, possibly due to validation issues with new top-level domains or other factors.
• Having a backup email solution, such as a Gmail account, can be useful in case of deliverability issues with self-hosted email.
• The reliability of email delivery is not solely the responsibility of the sender, and recipients using third-party email providers like Gmail may attribute delivery issues to the sender rather than their own provider.
• The use of Docker and other containerization technologies can simplify the deployment and management of mail servers, but may not be suitable for all use cases or software stacks.
• Self-hosting email can provide benefits such as increased control and customization, but may require more effort and expertise compared to using a third-party email provider.